Wednesday, March 24, 2010

When Nigel met Yves

I was having a quiet post work drink last night in O'Farrells bar in the lee of the European Parliament. This pub, the closet one to the Parliament is the nearest thing to a British pub for miles so has, unsurprisingly become the home away from home for the UKIP team. Indeed so much so that when the BNP tried to drink there we told the bar staff that we would have to sdrink elsewhere. Fearing for his cashflow the publican barred the BNP.

Anyway, there I am having my quiet drink and I get a tap on my shoulder. One of the regulars asked me where Farage was."Next door having some food, why?""Well, Yves Leterme the Belgian PM has just walked past you into the back bar".

You see, Leterm had got a little upset by Farage's desciption of Belgium as a non country,

His comments provoked a letter of complaint from Belgium's Prime Minister, Yves Leterme, to the president of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek. "As a Belgian politician, I must react against this damaging intervention... and the impolite comments about Belgium," Mr Leterme protested. He called on Mr Buzek to end "these kinds of incidents" in a bid to protect "the interests of my citizens, which cannot be underestimated".

Maybe I should introduce them. So after agreeing with the bar staff we would let the fellow at least finish his drink - after all he had come to a bar in the Euro bubble no doubt so he could have a drink in peace where nobody would recognise him Farage turned up.

We went to the back and there he was just finishing his drink with a couple of parliamentary staffers."Good evening Prime Minister".The look of horror on the staffer's faces was a picture."Good evening Mr Farage""I am sorry that I am unable to apologise to you for what I said, after all you said much the same in 2006"